The Malleus Maleficarum (review)

by Jenny Gibbons

The Malleus Maleficarum (Hammer of Witches) is a
detailed and accurate guide to how the Inquisition ran a
Witch trial. Written by two respected inquisitors and
enthusiastically endorsed by the Pope, the Malleus lay on
the bench of every Witch hunter in Europe. Its detailed
descriptions of sabbats and covens spread the fear of
Witches throughout Europe, dramatically increasing the
number of Witch trials.

Not!!!

That's the common view of the Malleus, but every
sentence in that first paragraph is dead wrong.

The Malleus Maleficarum is indeed one of the most
influential Witch-hunting manuals of all times. And since
it's easily available in modern English translation, it's
still influential, the darling of amateur historians
today. But it's not a reliable guide to the Burning
Times: it's a duplicitous text with a checkered past, a
book you simply can't take at face value. So most of this
review will focus on common misconceptions about the
Malleus -- things you ought to know if you want to use it
in your research.

#1: The Author and His Motivation

Almost all of the Malleus was written by one man:
Heinrich Kramer (aka Henry Institoris). A German
inquisitor of the late 15th century, Kramer was not a
well-respected man. His views on Witchcraft were
considered weird and extreme by most of his fellow
clergymen, who continually opposed and hindered his
trials. For instance, Kramer ran a large trial in
Innsbruck in 1485, where 57 people were investigated.
Nobody was killed. The bishop of Innsbruck became so
irritated with Kramer's fascination with the Witches'
sexual behavior that he shut down the trials, claiming
that the devil was in the inquisitor, not the Witches.

Kramer wrote the Malleus to win the cooperation of his
peers. The book isn't -- as some assume -- a guide to
what most 15th century Christians believed about Witches.
It's a minority opinion, written to convince the populace
at large of the dangers of Witchcraft.

#2: The Endorsements

The Malleus is usually circulated along with a papal
bull "Summis Desiderantes", which rails against
Witches and the people who oppose Kramer and his
co-author, Jacob (or James) Sprenger. In the 15th
century, there was also a little recommendation from the
Faculty of Cologne (the Inquisition's top theologians).
Both of these endorsements are misleading.

Pope Innocent had actually never read the Malleus when
he wrote "Summis Desiderantes". Kramer
complained to the Pope about the poor reception he was
receiving from other priests, and the Pope (who was very
superstitious and feared Witches greatly) obligingly gave
Kramer this bull. He also asked a respected Dominican
scholar, Jacob Sprenger, to help Kramer write the
Malleus. Kramer treated the bull as if it was a full
endorsement of his book, but it wasn't.

The recommendation from Cologne is an out-and-out
forgery. When they were finished writing, Sprenger
presented the Malleus to the Faculty, asking for its
approval. Instead, the Inquisition resoundingly condemned
the book. It said that the legal procedures it
recommended were unethical and illegal, and that its
demonology was not consistent with Catholic doctrine.
Undaunted, Kramer forged an enthusiastic endorsement. As
you might expect, the Faculty discovered this quickly and
was enraged! Kramer and Sprenger parted on bad terms, and
the Inquisition condemned Kramer in 1490, just four years
after the Malleus was published.

#3: The Impact of the Malleus

The Malleus wasn't an immediately influential book.
Most Church and Inquisitorial courts ignored it, probably
because of the Faculty's condemnation. Civil courts,
unfortunately, gave it more weight. Fooled by the forged
recommendation and the out-of-context bull, many
non-religious judges believed that the Malleus had the
approval of the Church. Many used it, though it did not
-- as some authors say -- lie on the bench of every
judge.

It publication did not increase the number of Witch
trials. In fact, it came at the beginning of a slight
lull, when the steady rise in trials stalled for a few
decades. But when the major panics of the Burning Times
hit in the mid-16th century, the Malleus came into its
own. It was the most detailed discussion of Witchcraft
around. Many civil courts were handling Witch trials for
the first time. They had no idea how to proceed, and so
they latched onto the Malleus' recommendations gladly. By
the end of the 16th century, other Witch hunting manuals
eclipsed the Malleus. But at the beginning of the crazes,
it did have an enormous impact.

#4: The Theories

You also have to take the Malleus' theories with a
grain of salt. As I've said, Kramer's views were
condemned by the Inquisition. They certainly don't
represent the official view of the Church of the 15th
century.

If you compare the Malleus to other Witch-hunting
manuals, you can see how unique its theories are.
Kramer's sexual hang-ups shine through like a super nova.
I mean, there are seven entire chapters on all the awful
things Witches can do to penises, and Kramer apparently
thought that it was quite common for men to wake up and
discover that their Virile Member had walked off in the
middle of the night... The book's sexism is also extreme.
Most manual profer sexist explanations for why the
majority of Witches are women. But none are as virulently
misogynist as the Malleus.

The theology is also primitive. Read the Malleus
closely, and you'll notice that many of the
"traditional" bits of Witch lore are missing.
There are no sabbats. No covens. No Witches' marks. Many
of the Witchcraft stereotypes we're familiar with
developed in the 16th century. By comparing the Malleus
(1484) to, say, the Compendium Maleficarum (1608), you
can see how much beliefs changed during the height of the
panics.

************

That's the history of the Malleus, in brief.
Now for a review:

The Malleus is dreadfully dull reading. It's long,
confusing, and dry, "enlivened" only by
occasional shocking bits of misogyny and bigotry. So
before you read it, I encourage you to ask yourself why
you're bothering.

Is it to learn what Witch hunting was like? Well, the
Malleus won't tell you. You're better off reading trial
records or pamphlet accounts of individual trials. (Which
you can find in books like _Witchcraft in England_ by
Barbara Rosen, or Alan Kors' _Witchcraft in Europe, 1100
- 1700_.)

Do you want to learn what the Church taught about
Witches? Again, the Malleus won't help you. You need to
read tons of material to understand the Church's
responses (or, more sensibly, you can read scholarly
summaries of the debate).

The Malleus will help you if:

a) You want to get a feel for what a Witch hunting
manual was like. b) You want to understand the origins of
some of the later stereotypes. c) You want some shocking
quotations (the Malleus is chock-full of them...)

The big thing to remember, however, is that the
Malleus does not give an accurate picture of what Witch
hunting was like. It's an extreme, radical text, and
gives a very distorted view of life in the Burning Times.